Myth, power and satire in Abdullahi’s plays

Denja Abdullahi’s Death and the King’s Grey Hair and other Plays is a classical collection of plays filled with great humor, myth and satire.

The three plays are experimental plays. The first is in movements, and broken in to seven movements, while the second is in Acts and the third in scenes. Pretty much different from the usual Act and Scene style of play writing.

The plots are unique as the playwrightsucceeds in crafting out the conflicts and providing good resolutions with good characterisation and dialogue that blend with the period and situation of the time.

Death and the King’s Grey Hair is not a historical play, but a play based on an oral mythology attributed to the Jukun people of middle belt region of Nigeria. It highlights the effect of the abuse of power and total disregard for tradition. The playwright does not attempt to go in search of the facts of the story, but feels the need to weave bare myth into dramatic fiction. The play is centred on the king of the land of Shakaga, King Esutu, who defies the tradition of his people that says the throne is for ‘’young kings and short reigns’’, as kings in that land are normally given poison to drink and die to be reborn into a lion at the sprout of the first grey hair on their royal heads.

Like it is with such typical tradition, all is not well with the people of Shakaga at the beginning of the play. The attempt of the King to wilfully defy tradition in search of absolute power and the people’s resistance to that form the conflict framework of the play. The play is noteworthy for its cultural setting.

The playwright explains to the reader in the preface that power is “power no matter the period of time a leader rules”. King Esutu of Shakaga and the man of the cave in the ancient period are not different from the modern man, who can go to any length to remain on the throne.

First Wiseman: We all know that it is a taboo for a king to show signs of aging in our land. Our land is a land of young kings and short reigns. But something tells me that Esutu has stayed longer on the throne than any other king we’ve had since Jigulu, our founding father (Death & the king’s grey hair, pg. 14)

To unravel the mystery, the tribe is confronted by the tragedies as faced by Gabisi and the poison bearer. I like the poetic rendition of the character of Gabisi the poet and guardian of wordsPage 13: I am Gabisi, the poet of the ancients. Those who do not respect what is old should await the sting of my tongue. Whenever you see brave grey-haired men bent with many moons of wisdom, look for Gabisi, Gabisi is the messenger of tradition, the poet of the ancients.

In the second play entitled: Truce with the Devil, Abdullahi brings to the table his experiment with Marxist ideology as opposed to capitalism. Through this theatre of experiment, the playwright says it is nearly impossible to dethrone capitalism and enthrone Marxism. He uses real characters in fictional perspectives. Suleiman, a devotee and advocate of Marx and Engels is oppressed by his capitalist uncle; he gets expelled from Jarasite University as a result of his crusade for the proletarians. Like Ngugi Wa Thiongo’s I will Marry When I Want, the principle of collectivism cannot work as most people are oppressed by poverty and joblessness. Suleiman submits to capitalism because he cannot fend for his siblings and he explains to Dapo on Page 77 how he only needs to play the devil’s advocate to get what he wants.

Suleiman: No, you got it wrong. I was seduced by reality after all those student days of sloganeering…My friend let me tell you, I have stopped living on Marxist books. Marxism is dead, Communism is crumbled.

Fringe benefits, the third play, is written through the eyes of the playwright as a participant-observer. In this play, Abdullahi explains the social realities of life in tertiary institutions and the society at large and the benefits that accompany the job we do. Imagine if we have to go to library where books are non-existent to do a research or where the only way out is to buy handouts or take our lecturer’s order? Imagine if the only better option for us is to go beyond the shores for a greener pasture due to the economic situation of the country.

Abdullahi is an award-winning poet, literary essayist, cultural enthusiast and technocrat, who has many works to his credit. They include A Thousand Years of Thirst (2011); Abuja Nunyi (2008); the Talking Drum (2008) and his much celebrated narrative poetry, Mairogo: A Buffoon’s Poetic Journey Around Northern Nigeria (2001) and Themes Fall Apart but the Centre Holds (2009) a book co-edited with Joe Ushie on the 50-year Anniversary celebration of Achebe’s most acclaimed novel, Things Fall Apart in (2008). Death and The King’s Grey Hair and Other plays is his current collection of plays. I will suggest this book be recommended for Tertiary institutions, secondary schools and the theatre.